Yesterday Adrienne asked me why so many Republicans have such blind loyalty to Trump. Without hesitation, I replied, “It’s the American version of ‘working towards the Führer’.” Huh?
As some of you know, I have a keen interest in the origins of the Holocaust, particularly its language and human behavior. Why did so many Germans initiate and perpetrate the Holocaust when there is no written record, per se, that Hitler officially sanctioned the “Final Solution?” He never said or wrote: “Exterminate the Jews.” So why were six million Jews and five million others systematically slaughtered?
Ian Kershaw — a renowned historian on all things Hitler — attributes it to a behavioral pattern called, “working towards the Führer.” Through careful and relentless speeches, newspaper and magazine articles (today it would include Facebook and Twitter), Hitler and the Nazi Party constructed his public image. In his public portrayal, he was a man of the people, claiming “humble origins” that rejected privilege and sterile old order in favor of a new and uncompromising strength. His constant harangues about the “struggle” of the “little man” against the “deep state,” etc., empowered millions of Germans to follow him even though many were only marginally committed to the Nazi ideology.
Sound familiar?
Once Hitler was in power, his “public persona” encouraged both government officials and other Germans to take initiatives on their own to help their nation realize the goals he expressed. In fact, he left it to others to figure out how to carry out policies, etc. The Führer couldn’t be expected to dictate everything; after all, he was too busy fueling a barbaric tone in hate-filled speeches that gave a green light to discriminatory action against Jews and other “enemies of the state.”
But how far could Nazi officials go? They knew Hitler despised the weak and infirm, but did that mean euthanizing them? “Let’s try that and see if he says anything.” Hitler said nothing. “Okay, we know he believes the Jews are the reason why Germany lost World War I, so they are indeed, dangerous. How about we start gassing them in specially-designed small trucks?” Hitler said nothing. “Well, then, let’s just shoot them all in mass executions.” Hitler said nothing and besides, according to Himmler, ‘shooting women and children leaves a bad taste in a soldier’s mouth.’ The Führer must be pleased on some level, no? So let’s go bigger! Build concentration camps and gas 60,000 Jews a day. That will certainly please him.” Hitler said nothing; however, he did look pleased.
But that’s 75 years ago and involves actual murder. So this behavioral pattern hasn’t had the same consequences. The President of the United States is not a murderer, and for God’s sake, he can’t keep his mouth shut. But there is damning silence elsewhere.
“I don’t like Muslims, so I announced that I was going to ban them from the country. No Republican really said anything, so I took it a step further and declared that we don’t need refugees from shithole countries. Seriously, that kind of language was okay with these guys? So I paid off my porn-star mistress, put kids in cages, obstructed the Mueller investigation and bribed Ukraine by withholding $391 million in military aid. According to Article Two of the Constitution, I can do anything I want! No collusion! No obstruction! That transcript was perfect! WITCH HUNT! I’m not only President of the United States . . . I’m King of the World!”
By looking the other way while the President expands his boundaries for misconduct, Republicans are not working for the country. They are working towards the President. They are participating in the holocaust of democratic values. Do any of them have any idea how much this President is a clear and present danger to the Republic? Or do they believe that this President can just continue moving forward like Hitler who said on March 14, 1936, “I go with the certainty of a sleepwalker along the path laid out for me by Providence.”
The similarities between the behavior of Nazi leaders and too many Republican leaders haunts me. The United States is in dangerous territory. When the current occupant of the Oval Office is exonerated (as expected) by the Senate and continues to hold power, who knows what other American principles he’ll tarnish? He is a monster.
FYI — Adrienne kindly and generously updated the PHP, PAP, PU and PA RUM PUM PUM PUM for this website last weekend.
All kidding aside, I’m grateful for (and a bit envious of) her expertise in these sorts of things. Thank you, Adrienne! xoxo
Within months of taking power in 1933, Hitler and the Nazi Party took over the judiciary, the intelligence, and the military.
In America, that is the Attorney General, the CIA Director and the Secretary of Defense who are not beholden to the President of the United States, right?
RIGHT?
For a clear example of how “working towards the Fuhrer” worked, here is an exchange between Reinhard Heydrich — the main architect of the Holocaust — and Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger, state secretary in the Reich Chancellery. This exchange took place at the Wannsee Conference that determined the logistics of the Final Solution, and is taken from the actual transcript of that conference of which I have a published copy:
Kritzinger : No, that is not, that is contrary to what the Chancellory has been told! I have been told, I have… Purge the Jews, yes. But, to annihilate them . . . . That we have undertaken to systematically annihilate all the Jews of Europe? No, that possibility has personally been denied, to me, by the Führer!
Heydrich : And it will continue to be.
Kritzinger : Yes, I understand. Yes. He will continue to deny it.
Heydrich : My apologies. Do you accept my apologies?
Kritzinger : Of course.
A clear example of “working towards the President”:
TRUMP: I WANT NOTHING! I WANT NOTHING! NO QUID PRO QUO!
REPUBLICANS: The President did nothing wrong, and even if he did, it’s not impeachable.
Another clear example:
A May 18 tweet from the President:
“Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a “hot” Fake News story. If true – all time biggest political scandal!”
Attorney General Barr, yesterday in a NBC interview:
“It [the Trump campaign] was clearly spied upon. I mean that’s what electronic surveillance is. I think our nation was turned on its head for three years. I think, based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by an irresponsible press. And I think that there were gross abuses of FISA. And inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI.”
I am sharing this with a few friends. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Kelly. I’m honored.
The first draft of this post stated that “nine million Jews” were slaughtered during the Holocaust. A reader/writer sent me a correction that broke down this number to six million Jews and five million others. The reader/writer describes herself as someone “who has spent the last decade trying to understand how and why the Holocaust happened and recognizes that today’s world is a very frightening place with many similarities that can and should not be ignored.”
Much gratitude to this reader/writer.
Just came across this statement by Werner Willikins, State Secretary in the Prussian Agriculture Ministry on February 21, 1934. It scares the shit out of me:
“It is the duty of every single person to attempt, in the spirit of the Fuhrer, to work towards him. Anyone making mistakes will come to notice soon enough. But the one who works correctly towards the Fuhrer along his lines and towards his aim will in the future as previously, have the finest reward of one day suddenly attaining legal confirmation of his work.’
Sharie, I have read this post several times this morning searching for words to respond. I am at a loss. I am so overwhelmed with feelings of dismay over what is happening in our country. I am finding it incredibly hard to articulate everything I feel. I am going to sit with this a little while before I respond more thoughtfully.
I hear you, Merrie Lee. I wish I didn’t know so much about Hitler, the Nazi Party and the Holocaust. I never thought that the evil perpetrated by Hitler and his obsequious followers would apply to an autocrat and his followers in the United States. NEVER EVER.
This, my Friend, is an incredibly powerful piece. Your research on the holocaust era and your drawing parallels with our own time is truly remarkable. This should be read by many people–have you sent it to any news outlet as an op-ed? Is it okay with you if I direct FB readers to this piece on your blog? I’ll wait for your approval.
I’m very flattered, Carol, and I approve.
I was planning to write about another topic, but when AG Barr came out yesterday and called Russian election meddling “a bogus narrative,” I could feel my face get hot. I was scared. Then Adrienne posed the question about Republican cowardice, and I was alarmed by how quickly I made the “working towards the Fuhrer/President” comparison. It’s chilling.
As I said this morning, Steve Bannon’s dreams have come true. Truly frightening.